Call of Home

By Jo Grix

When Daniel Anders left Earth, he knew three things. His work with the Intergalactic Central Government's Intelligence Agency wouldn't be easy, his blood family was out there somewhere, waiting to be found, and his little sister, Jessica Anders, was safe on Earth. Six years later, Agent Anders is far too aware of how hard his job is, he still hasn't found his birth parents, and he's about to learn a few home truths about his not-so-little sister.

Left behind on Earth, Jessica Anders was determined to be her own person, and that meant not just pursuing her lifetime love of ballet, but becoming something completely unexpected, something she could not admit to her brother until circumstances led to it coming out anyways. She was a superhero, and a protector of Earth, captured during an alien invasion and stranded a very long way from home.

The siblings reunited have a long journey in front of them, but the goal, to save their home planet, adopted or otherwise, along with a group of new friends with secrets and goals of their own.

This is Part One of Call of Home, the first novel in the Omega Missions Series of the Technomancer's War, posted as a preview to the novel.

Other stories in the Technomancer's War Universe available on Smashwords:

Soulsibs- Meet Danny and Jessie and see how they became the insperable duo they become.

Warders of Fyla:
Ancient Power and It Is Defended-
Wars aren't just fought in the big ships or the space stations, they are also fought on the planets. The Warders of Fyla will journey from students to experienced warriors under the hammer of war.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jo Grix
• Release date: Feb 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310965340

Jo Grix

Born in Huntsville, Texas, Jo found her stimulation through writing and reading from a young age. In a town where the big excitements were movies and bowling, she filled notebooks, and later Word documents with stories of places she wanted to visit, or that she dreamed up. As to Jo herself, she's not the most exciting individual, she saves that for her heroes and heroines.

Book preview

Call of Home

Part One

By Jo Grix

Call of Home Part 1

Copyright 2014 by T. Jo Grix, all rights reserved

Smashwords Edition

Cover Image Credit:

Planet Demolition Derby: NASA/JPL-Caltech

For Rye and Jules

Friends Indeed

Chapter One

Spies Hate Long Good Byes

Three years ago, Daniel had asked people when summer was coming. They had given him odd looks before saying, This is summer. He still could not believe how cold it got on Aurin, even on the equator. If he had not already been questioning his sanity, Daniel figured that getting up before dawn to watch the sunrise in temperatures that were at, if not below, freezing definitely qualified as a moment to stop and think about his life. If he did not freeze first.

As the gold and red light of dawn faded into the more normal pale pink typical of the Aurin sky, Daniel reminded himself that he’d had a second reason for standing on a roof in freezing weather. With fingers made clumsy from the cold and his gloves, he slid a small speaker into his ear and pressed play on the wrist control.

"Greetings Zero Zero Nine. And congratulations on your victory on Aurin. I hope you have not decided to retire to become an Operator, Agent, because you have a new mission."

Three years since the last time he had heard one of these prerecorded audio files, and six since the last time he had been home, but the old jokes remained. Should you choose to accept, Daniel said as he hoisted himself on top of the casing to the environmental controls. Sure, the roof of the training center offered a good view, but Daniel liked being on top of the tallest, stable structure in his immediate area, and after a stray shot during a surprise attack had almost ended his career, he wasn’t allowed on top of the battle drone storage bays any more.

"There is a Class Four planet that has been targeted by the Vyperans and in need of assistance. There have been rumors of people on that planet discovering and using Class 7 technology during the past decade. However, no one has managed to produce verification yet. Your assignment is to infiltrate that world with a team of your choosing, determine if Class Seven technologies are being used, and offer assistance in dealing with the Vyperans."

Daniel straightened, I get to pick my own team? What’s the catch?

"The courier ship Omega is standing by to return you to Central, along with anyone from Aurin you chose to recruit."

Daniel snorted. Like I’m going to sucker anyone around here into the service. I’d rather sleep in a bed of poison ivy.

"You are expected back here as soon as possible, Zero Zero Nine. You have a lot of work to do." The recording went silent for a moment and Daniel reached up to pull the speaker from his ear. A soft click made him hesitate, and a second recording, this one from his immediate superior, started. Daniel, while normally this assignment would go to a senior agent, you are the person best suited to the task given your unique knowledge of Earth.

Daniel froze, hand hovering at his ear. Then he scrambled for the control on his wrist, playing back the last bit of message. You are the person best suited to the task given your unique knowledge of Earth.

Yes! Daniel shouted, launching himself off the casing to perform his best imitation of a game winning touchdown dance.

The trap door opened with a squeal and a bang. Daniel went still. Moments later his friend Jay’mez appeared, scrambling off the access ladder with all the grace of a baby giraffe standing up for the first time.

Are you ok? Jay’mez asked as he brushed his hands off. He looked pointedly at Daniel’s left arm, where the bulk of his winter weight clothing hid a bandage.

Even after weeks to adjust, Daniel still could not get over how much of a different shaving Jay’mez’s dark hair made. I, uh, yeah, he grinned, I just heard some really good news. Like, the kind of good news I never expected to get.

Does this have anything to do with a ship called the Omega? Jay’mez asked.

Sort of, yeah, why? How did you know? Daniel asked. A warning alarm shrieked and Daniel jumped, spinning to scan the air for the incoming attack. Not an air raid, Daniel thought as he willed his heart to slow down, some poor schmuck burned his breakfast. And his stove. Probably his whole kitchen.

Jay’mez’s voice brought Daniel back out to his thoughts. Zakiyah just took a message from them on the vidcom that’s gotten her upset. Since you were not in bed, I figured you would be indulging your love of heights by coming up here and wanted to warn you. That and make sure you didn’t freeze to death because you forgot how cold it gets at night.

Great, thanks, Daniel said. It’s nice to know you care. He hesitated for a moment, I suppose I should find her and explain.

What’s going on? Jay’mez asked. Is everything alright?

Everything’s fine, Daniel said.

Daniel! A woman shouted.

Time to face the music, Daniel muttered, heading for the ladder.

The training center was still littered with the wreckage from when a battle droid had been knocked out of the sky and crashed into the residential wing. Daniel preferred not to think too hard about how close the strike had come to killing them. Do you realize that with most of my things either destroyed or buried under the rubble, I actually don’t have much to pack?

Jay’mez looked at him, Why would you be packing?

Yes, Daniel. Tell us, why would you be packing? Zakiyah said. The dark haired leader of the Aurin Operators appeared around a bend in the hallway, her normally graceful stride impeded by a heavy limp and an elegantly carved cane, legacy of the midnight raid that had preceded the final battle, no doubt a last ditch attempt to assassinate the Operators before the Alterians had tried to take the planet. Too bad nobody told the Alterians that there were trained hand-to-hand fighters among the Operators.

Daniel took a deep breath. I’ve been recalled to Central and have to leave. There’s a message from the Omega then?

They’re leaving as soon as you can get to the ship, Zakiyah said.

That’s fast. I mean, I’m not a fan of long goodbyes, but even a short goodbye takes time. In a way, Daniel was grateful he would not